Operating systems typically specify a default Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) receive window parameter that limits the number of packets each TCP flow can receive at any instance. For example, the default TCP receive window parameter for a system using Window XP or earlier versions is typically 64 KB. The default TCP receive window parameter prevents a TCP sender from overwhelming the receiver by sending more packets than the receiver can adequately handle. Initially, a default TCP receive window value is communicated to a sender through a receive window parameter, sometimes herein called the rwnd parameter, in each acknowledgment (ACK) packet. When subsequent ACKs are transmitted to the sender, the value of the receive window parameter (sometimes called the advertised receive window) in those ACKs is set to the default TCP receive window value minus the backlog in the receiver buffer, and represents space available in the receiver's buffer for new packets. Accordingly, a sender is not to send more than advertised receive window amount of data. Because computer hardware has become exponentially faster over the years, and memory for buffers has become less expensive, receivers can typically accept a more data from the sender than indicated by the default TCP receive window parameter.